We tend to teach the Civil War as a series of battles, when in fact a typical Civil War soldier would have seen combat for at most a total of two weeks a year. That’s a lot of time to kill. Some of it was spent marching in anticipation Read more…
Horace Lawson Hunley was born in Tennessee but his family settled in New Orleans. He grew up to be a lawyer and a member of the state legislature. He was also a marine engineer interested in building a submarine. His first attempt had to be scuttled before Union forces Read more…
If you have seen “Saving Private Ryan”, here is the true story that inspired the film. The Niland brothers grew up in Tonawanda, New York. Preston and Robert enlisted in the Army before Pearl Harbor. Edward and Frederick enlisted in November, 1942. Because of the deaths of the Sullivan Read more…
Without John Glover, the Revolution would not have succeeded. He was that important. Glover was a successful shipowner and merchant before the war. He was given command of a regiment of seamen and fishermen from Gloucester and Marblehead in Massachusetts. They became known as the Glover’s Marbleheaders. Gen. Washington Read more…
There have been several strange little wars throughout history, including the Soccer War and the War of Jenkin’s Ear. If you want to make the history books, and this website, you need a catchy name. The Guerra de los Pasteles (Spanish name) or the Guerre des Patisseries (French) started Read more…
Joseph Glidden patented barbed wire on November 24, 1874. It was one of the most important inventions in the settling of the West. In 1873, Henry Rose was having trouble with a “breachy cow” so he invented a strip of wood with nails on it that he attached to Read more…
Edward Thach’s career came to an end on Nov. 22, 1718. The Governor of Virginia had enough of his piracy and decided that despite the “protection” from the Governor of North Carolina, Blackbeard needed to be stopped. He sent two ships under Royal Navy Lt. Robert Maynard to end the Read more…
“Bloody Sunday” is an event in the Irish War of Independence. It occurred on November 21, 1920. It consisted of three separate incidents. In the morning, Irish Republican Army gunmen were sent by Michael Collins to assassinate members of the Cairo Gang. The gang consisted of British undercover agents Read more…
From November 14-16, 1965, the U.S. Army fought the first battle of the Vietnam War. A battalion was helicoptered into the Ia Drang valley to sneak up on a North Vietnamese regiment, but knocked over a hornet’s nest of three regiments. The three days of combat were intense and Read more…
The Great War ended on Nov. 11. It must have sucked to be the last American killed in the war. Especially since the death made no difference in the outcome. Germany was decisively defeated at this point and had agreed to a cease-fire called the Armistice. It was agreed Read more…